


The only smart Coldwater-Waugh

by TakenByEmrys



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: BAMF Margo Hanson, F/F, M/M, Margo Loves Teddy, Post-Season/Series 04, Protective Margo Hanson, Teddy Comes to visit, Teddy Loves his Dad, The questers try to resurrect Quentin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24597754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakenByEmrys/pseuds/TakenByEmrys
Summary: The questers are trying to resurrect Quentin when they bring someone else back from the Underworld.
Relationships: Kady Orloff-Diaz/Alice Quinn (mentioned) - Relationship, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Comments: 13
Kudos: 128





	The only smart Coldwater-Waugh

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Hoko and Kimmibee for Margo's Teddy nicknames!
> 
> And thank you AmbiguousPenny for being the best beta ever!

They’re standing in a circle, chanting and going through the tuts in the middle of Kady’s living room when the portal opens. They had worked day and night for weeks trying to bring Q back from the underworld. Alice, of course, was the one who found the book in the library. It was going to take all of them, and the person they were calling had to be on the other side, waiting. Alice had dropped a letter down to the underworld branch, telling Penny to get Quentin ready.

They stutter to a stop as someone steps through the bright white light of the portal. But it’s not Quentin. Kady immediately drops into a position for battle magic, ready for whatever they have summoned. Alice mimics her hand positions. Julia and Penny wait, staying out of sight on the other side of the portal. 

The man is average height. He's in his early twenties, no more than 22. He has swooping brown hair and familiar brown eyes. His eyes scan the questers, stopping on Eliot. Eliot’s hand was shaking as it covered his mouth. Tears were springing in his eyes.

“Who the ever loving fuck are you?” Margo hisses. She has Sorrow and Sorrow in her hands. The man doesn’t look away from Eliot. 

“It’s been a long time, but I hope you recognize me.” He says. Eliot lets out a choking sob and launches himself forward. They all watch as Eliot envelops the man in a bone crushing hug. They share glances as Eliot’s tears run freely. 

“El?” Margo asks tentatively. Eliot pulls away but keeps the man in an iron grip.

“This is Teddy. Theodore Rupert. Teddy bear.” He says softly. Julia makes a small noise. "But, my question is how and why he’s here.” Eliot gives him a watery smile.

“The Best Friend for Life sent me obviously.” Teddy’s lips twist in a smirk. El matches his smile.

“But, you're here?” Eliot asks.

“Oh yeah. I’m here for good!” Teddy has started crying at this point. Eliot pulls him into a hug again.

“But why didn’t it work?” Alice asks.

“Because the person you’re calling needs to be in the underworld.” Teddy turns to look at the rest of the questers. He smiles at them all, one by one. “Sorry, this is a lot for me, meeting you guys.”

“Why?” Kady asks. Teddy lets out a soft chuckle.

“I mean, I grew up on stories of you guys. You were my bedtime stories.” He meets Alice’s eyes. “My aunt Vix, the smartest woman I would ever meet. She taught me that knowledge is so important, and anything can be done if I try hard.” He gives Julia the next blinding smile. “My aunt Julia had the softest heart anyone had ever seen. So soft and pure that she became an actual goddess. She taught me how to always be kind and that love is the strongest thing there is.” Margo is next. She narrows her eyes as he begins talking. 

“Aunt Bambi the Destroyer.” He says reverently. “The best ruler Fillory is going to see and my greatest protector on Earth. You taught me how to protect myself. How to make my own hard glossy armour so no one could hurt me without my permission.” He turns to Kady. “And god forbid someone get through that armour. Aunt Kady taught me that it's okay to fight back. A well placed punch can say things better than words sometimes, but there are still times to show people what you feel.” He swivels to look at Penny. “Different timelines don’t make you that different. Not completely. But I have met Uncle Penny 40, and I know he’s my fiercest defender. But I know now that Penny 23 would always help when I needed him too. I don’t mind sharing the Uncle Penny love.” They are all silently crying as he finishes. “You guys were my heros.” 

“Why don’t we sit down,” Eliot suggests. “I’ll go get you something to eat, too.” Eliot was gone in a second. The questers take hesitant seats around the coffee table, and Teddy claims the loveseat.

“Well this is lovely, but I’m not giving up.” Alice says fiercely. 

“Well that’s good. I never thought you would, but before that, doesn’t anyone want their messages?” He asks. They all give him blank looks. “Guys come on. A staged break out from the underworld? Doesn’t happen everyday.So I’ve been asked to tell you guys things by loved ones.” He turns to Julia. “First, the message from the actual goddess, because if I fuck this up, we’re screwed. Lady Persephone asked me to tell you that nothing is permanent. The binder isn’t a god. He can bury your power, but only she can remove it completely.” Julia’s jaw drops, and Teddy gives her a small smile. Eliot returns from the kitchen with a plate laden with whatever leftovers he could find. Teddy grins and takes the plate. Eliot easily sits next to him with a small smile on his face. 

“You said messages.” Kady pushes.

“Of course,” Teddy nods. He shovels chow mein into his mouth. “First, holy crap. Chinese food is so fucking good. I completely understand why you guys missed it so much.” Eliot grins at him. “Okay, first. For Kady, ‘See you soon’ from Penny.” Kady swears under her breath and crosses her arms but she doesn’t get up. “For Alice, from your dad.” Alice jerks forward. “He loves you. He would never blame you, and he’s sorry for everything that he and your mom did.” No one says anything as she sheds a tear. "And one more.” He turns to Eliot. 

“Oh no.” Eliot says. He shoots up suddenly and wrings his hands. Teddy sighs and stands up too. 

“I read your books.” Teddy confesses. Eliot’s eyebrows shoot up. “But this is from Mom.” The questers all lean forward, eager to learn more. 

“Okay,” Eliot swallows audibly.

“Completely unabridged, coming from her to you.” Eliot nods in understanding. Teddy nods back and lands a solid punch on Eliot’s jaw. Margo jumps up as Eliot crumples. “How is the motherfuck could you fucking do that?” Teddy yells. “After everything you’ve been through, after all the things we said to each other under the peach trees. How the fuck could you choose now to run away? When you get down here. I’m going to give you the ass kicking of a lifetime. He will always choose you, you cowardly motherfucker.” Teddy’s face is red, his breathing begins coming in short bursts. Eliot is back on his feet, fresh tears in his eyes. 

“That’s it?” He asks hesitantly. Teddy nods.

“She ranted a lot about you, but that was the main message she wanted to pass on. Now, that was from mom. This is from me.” Teddy shoots out and catches Eliot in the jaw again. Margo sits back down as Eliot gets up again. 

“I deserved both of those.” Eliot croaks. Teddy presses his lips together and nods before pulling Eliot into a hug.

“Fuck I missed you, papa.” Teddy’s voice waivers. Eliot laughs through his tears and presses a kiss into Teddy’s temple. 

“I fucking missed you too, Teddy Bear. And don’t let your dad hear you use that language.” Eliot chuckles.

“Wait, hold the fuck on.” Penny says. “Whose fucking kid are you?” The rest of the questers have the same looks of confusion. Teddy raises an eyebrow.

“I thought that was obvious.” Teddy said. Eliot clears his throat.

“They don’t know anything, Teddy. You mentioned you read our books?” Teddy nods slowly.

“Yeah, but not to the end. Penny only let me read up to the beginning of the monster.” He looks around. “Holy crap, neither of you told them?” Eliot gives him a pained look. “Wait, you still didn’t tell him?!”

“Tell who what?” Margo asks. Teddy glares at Eliot.

“My full name is Theodore Rupert Coldwater-Waugh. My mom was Arielle Coldwater-Waugh, my dad was Eliot Coldwater-Waugh and Quentin Coldwater-Waugh.” Shocked silence meets his confession. Eliot wrings his hands.

“Holy fuck. That’s why you’ve been a fucking widow.” Margo exclaims. 

“And the single minded ‘team Eliot’ makes sense.” Julia whispers. 

“You motherfuckers had a full polyamorous domestic fucking family and you didn’t tell anyone?” Margo asks. Eliot smiles sadly.

“That’s why he stopped the bloodstone.” Kady explains. “And peaches and plums.” Eliot flinches at her words. Margo raises an eyebrow and Teddy looks away.

“If you were married, why did he want to get back together with me?” Alice asks softly. Eliot chokes.

“El, what the fuck did you do?” Margo's voice is hard as steel. Eliot shakes his head but doesn't say anything.

“After Aunt Margo stopped them from going to the mosaic, they went back to Fillory. Dad asked Papa to do it again. Have another 50 years together.” Teddy starts. 

“And I told him we wouldn’t choose each other if we had another choice.” Eliot chokes out. Margo stands up and looks at Eliot, her lips curling into a snarl.

“You motherfucker.” She reaches back and open handed slaps him. “You deserve a bitch slap for that.” Alice glares at him, lips pursing in anger.

“Yes, I’m a dumbfuk™. But, can we focus back on saving Quentin? Then I can tell him how much I was wrong and spend the rest of my life making it up to him.” Eliot begins to placate. There is a joint huff as 8 people roll their eyes.

“You said he wasn’t in the underworld.” Kady looks at Teddy, who nods. 

“Yep, he’s not dead. Before you guys went to the mirror world, he went to a different dimension.” Teddy starts.

  
“The old gods.” Alice says. Teddy nods.

“Yep, apparently that was some good fucking cake.” Teddy grins. Silence meets his statement. 

“Holy fuck,” Kady says.

  
“Are you telling us that Q is alive because Josh had fish powers and accidentally brought them to the god’s realm?” Margo’s voice is steely cold. Teddy nods.

“No idea about the fish thing. All Uncle Penny said was cake.” Teddy explains.

“Wait, Uncle Penny? You guys fully talked?” Kady asks. Teddy snorts and shakes his head.

“Well yeah. I already said he’s the one who sent me up here.” Alice raises an eyebrow.

“You said bffl.” She says slowly. Teddy rolls his eyes.

“Jesus, how many relationships did you guys hide?” Teddy turns to Eliot, who shrugs.

“That one wasn’t my doing. They had their own weird understanding. I still don’t get it.” Eliot explains. Teddy turns back to the questers.

“Dad's best friend, Penny Adiyodi, sent me up here.” Teddy says bluntly. Silence.

“I’m sorry, what?” Julia asks. Teddy looks sheepish.

“Sorry Julia. You’re definitely Dad’s oldest friend, but Dad and Penny are BFFLs.” Everyone turns to Penny 23 who isn’t looking at anyone. He sighs. 

“Yeah, alright. That makes sense.” He confessed. Jaws drop.

“No fucking way.” Margo said. “How long have they been friends?” Eliot smiles into Teddy’s shoulder. “ _ Eliot _ .” 

“Oh you know. A couple days after the entrance exam.” Eliot says. Total uproar ensues. “Hey, hey. Penny and Q are a lovely star crossed love affair we never saw coming. Penny didn’t know how to openly ‘care’ about Q, and he had a ‘reputation’ to uphold.” Kady snorts.

“I’ve been in the underworld making Uncle Penny’s life a living hell.” Teddy grins. Margo watches as Eliot’s eyes soften as he looks at his son. He absently runs a hand through the boys hair. Margo feels the beginning of feelings creeping up on her. “So we have a lot to do. Dad is a disaster and is probably not doing too hot.” Margo snorts softly and smiles.

  
“Both of your fathers are disasters. Now lay it on us kid. How are we gonna save him?” Margo asks.

“When he was hit with the magic in the mirror realm, he didn’t die. He fractured like Harriet! Except he fractured more than she did, so it’ll be a lot to stitch him back together.”

“We’ll need multiple beacons.” Alice says to herself. “We’re going to need different types of relationships to build each part of him.” Teddy nods. She lets out a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. Kady leans into her shoulder in comfort. 

“How about we go to bed and rest from the mass amount of magic we did today and start fresh in the morning?” Kady pushes slightly. Eliot and Margo make eye contact and smirk at each other.

“Yea. Penny, tomorrow morning we can go get what we need. Alice, make us a list, please?” Julia asks and stretches. Alice nods.

“Come on Coldwater Lite,” Margo stands up and reaches toward Teddy. “You look dead on your feet. I’ll show you where you can sleep.” Margo pulls Teddy up by his arm and walks him up the spiral staircase. Eliot can’t help the tears that spring in his eyes. He looks up as a hand grasps his shoulder. Alice is smiling at him.

“He’s beautiful.” She says softly. “And you’re an idiot.” Eliot chuckles wetly, a tear leaking from the corner of his eye. “But we’re gonna fix it.” She slips her hand into Kady’s and pulls the girl to the staircase. Julia smiles and winks as she and Penny walk past him to the bedrooms. 

Eliot closes his eyes and lets the tears fall freely. He doesn’t even jump when two petite hands grasps his shoulders. His lips curl into a wide smile. 

“So the only smart Coldwater-Waugh is all tucked into bed.” Margo murmurs. Eliot lets her pull him up the stairs towards her room. He toes off his shoes, slides off his vest and pulls off his tie before falling into her bed. He listens as she shimmied into a nightgown and slides in next to him. Eliot looks up and meets her gaze. Her eyebrow is raised and her lips are curled downward. Eliot hasn’t seen this look on her face.

“What’s going on in your head Bambi?” He asks softly.

“El, you have a kid. You had a whole life with our Baby Q and you didn’t tell me.” Eliot’s breath caught. His Bambi is  _ hurt. _ “That boy is sweet as hell, and the only reason I know about him is because we tried to raise Baby Q from the dead. What the fuck, El.” 

“I’m sorry Bambi. It just, it hurts. It hurts so much.” Fresh tears begin streaming down his cheeks. Margo wraps her arms around him and pulls him close. He erupts in full sobs. “They were my family. God, I had a family. A husband, a wife, fuck I had a son. And then, when I could do it all over again I said no. How could I do that? How could I hurt Quentin like that?” Margo’s palms rub up and down his spine.

“You’re a grade A asshole sometimes El. But you also have more self destructive qualities than anyone else i’ve ever met. We’re going to get Q back tomorrow. The first thing you’re gonna do is tell him you love him, and then you two dumbasses are going to finally realize that we are your family.” Eliot lets his head fall onto her shoulder as sobs rack his body. Her hands move through his hair until he falls asleep. 

The next morning Eliot wakes up to an empty bed. He stumbles down the stairs and finds Margo and Teddy making breakfast. He feels the tears start to form again as Margo teaches Teddy how to make waffles. Kady and Alice are sitting at the bar, watching them fondly as they both read books.

“Come on babyface, you can’t put that much batter in the iron.” Margo is saying. He grins at her.

“But then you get that great gooey bit on the outside.” Margo shakes her head and tries her best to hide her smile.

“You are so your father’s son. You want some coffee with your sugar milk too?” She asks. Teddy grins at her and nods.

“Maybe light on the coffee.” Margo hip checks him and turns around to pour the coffee. 

“Alright here you go peaches.” She sets his coffee next to the iron and looks up and meets Eliot’s eyes. He jumps into action and comes down to meet them.

“Dad!” Teddy darts forward and slams into Eliot’s arms.

  
“Morning Teddy Bear. I see you and Margo are already destroying the kitchen.” Margo smirks at him and hands him a black coffee. He greets Alice with a kiss on the crown of her head and a hand to Kady’s shoulder. Teddy goes back to the waffles with a grin on his face. Margo wraps an arm around Eliot and lays her head on his chest. They listened as Teddy chattered about Fillorian pancakes.

Julia and Penny popped into existence next to the bar, both of their arms laden with supplies. Alice starts grabbing things and handing them to Kady. Eliot and Margo help Teddy load plates. Soon everyone has a plate of waffles in front of them.

“Well, let’s go kick ass and get out Baby Q back.” Margo cries, her mug raised. They all raise their cups in agreement and get to work. They have family to save.   
  
  



End file.
